"For me, receiving the surrender of the Pakistani forces was a special day and will be so till I die."

Recalling this recent incident, Lt-General (retd) Aurora, now 79, chokes up with emotion. "Governments may be ungrateful but the Indian public is very generous," he says.

Even 25 years after the glorious victory in the Bangladesh war, the legend lives on. But the glory is tinged with bitterness. Bitterness over being slighted by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi; over Operation Blue Star; and over the November '84 riots.

His suave visage - slight wrinkles, snow-white beard and curled up moustaches - barely hides the turbulence within, as he prepares for a function commemorating the '71 victory. He has waited long for this. After 24 years, the three services chiefs decided last year to observe December 16 - the day of surrender - as "Vijay Day". "Forme, it has been a special day, and will be so till I die," muses Aurora.

He lives on a pacemaker, and a razor-sharp memory. Still fresh in his mind are the details of 1971. Of a tumultuous reception on the streets of Dhaka. Of his Pakistani counterpart, Lt-General A.A.K. ("Tiger") Niazi. Of the day he stepped into the history books after inspecting a unique double guard of honour by both the Indians and the Pakistanis.

Later that evening, after signing the surrender, Niazi handed over his revolver to Aurora and they shook hands. Soon after, Aurora was on the shoulders of the jubilant crowds chanting Joi Bangla (victory to Bengal). Despite the adulation, Aurora, thought by Indira Gandhi to be a publicity-seeker, failed to become army chief. Some of his former subordinates echo the charge of glory grabbing.

"He made a complete hash of war honours," charges Maj-General (retd) G.S. Nagra, one of the first officers to enter Dhaka. Sidelined with a Padma Bhushan in 1972, after retirement Aurora nursed his bitterness in corporate boardrooms and on the fringes of Akali politics.

He also participated in the Punjab group - a Delhi-based intellectual forum dedicated to the Punjab problem. But in the wake of Blue Star and the November '84 riots, a deep sense of hurt pitted him against the Congress establishment." I did not lose my balance but was very upset," he says.

After the riots, Aurora floated the Sikh Forum to seek justice for the riot victims. Two years later, he found a new voice in the Rajya Sabha - as an Akali MP. But he doesn't make much of it. "I was alone voice of dissent."

On balance though, gratitude wins over bitterness. "The laurels I won as a fortunate soldier outweigh my disappointments," he says. Born into a middle-class, non-army family in Kala village in Jhelum district (now in Pakistan), Aurora was commissioned in the Punjab Regiment in 1938.

He rose through the ranks largely by virtue of his abilities as an instructor - a trait he inherited from his grandfather, a headmaster.

What began with him is likely to end with him too-his only son, is a US-based publisher. But Aurora's social life still revolves around the army. His health does not allow him to play golf - his passion. However, every morning he exercises and recites the 'Gurbani'.

While many war veterans still take pride in displaying trophies of war, Aurora has already passed on the uniform he wore on the day of surrender to the Punjab Regiment, and Niazi's revolver to the Indian Military Academy.

Next year, he plans to bequeath Niazi's flag to his regiment. "My son is not interested in all these mementoes" he says wryly. But the army certainly is. And the people too, who still remember Aurora - Bangladesh wale.

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